Independent Hajj Reporters, a civil society organisation that monitors and reports hajj activities, has appealed to NAHCON to instruct state Muslim pilgrim’s welfare boards agencies and commissions to announce the start of registration of intending pilgrims for the 2025 hajj…..For More READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE ▶▶...CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING.>>
In a statement signed by its national coordinator Ibrahim Muhammed on Tuesday and made available to Nigerian Tribune, the CSO said the calls become imperative given the short time frames allocated to pre-hajj activities in the newly released hajj calendar by the world Hajj regulator, the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah….For More READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE ▶▶
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!“Delayed registration affects late remittance by states and the behind-schedule remittance of pilgrims’ deposits by states will obstruct NAHCON’s ability to process and transfer the needed funds to Saudi Arabia service providers, which will also have a negative influence on the Saudi-based service providers’ readiness to provide efficient and effective services to our dear pilgrims.”
NAHCON should set its sights on adhering to its hajj calendar to avoid conflicts with important pre-hajj activities. States Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Boards are the centre of pre-hajj activities in terms of registration of pilgrims, documentation, orientation, and conveyance of funding.
With the commencement of contracts with Service Providers on service packages and choice and reservation of spaces in Masha’er set to begin by October 23, 2024, Nigeria has less than 3 months to project the number of pilgrims it will convey to the 2024 hajj.
More importantly, the issuance of visas is set to begin on February 19, 2025, and end on April 18, 2025. The remaining 6 months before the commencement of visa issuance should be jealously utilised to avoid the late rush hour experienced last year, ‘the statement added
Furthermore, it is now clear that the government may not grant concession on exchange rates, NAHCON should urge states to announce initial deposits based on prevailing exchange rates with a pen-down agreement with financial institutions that deposits from pilgrims will be automatically converted to US dollars and received as such.
“Such a step will safeguard the deposit made by pilgrims from being devalued during hajj transactions, as experienced with pilgrims BTA this year.
“We urge state governors to reduce the administrative bureaucracy to allow States Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Boards and agencies to execute pre-hajj activities like the commencement of hajj registrations, announcements of hajj fare benchmarks, and transferring of hajj deposit to NAHCON with few administrative channels. This major issue caused delays in the previous hajj exercise,” the statement added.
